


Bits and Pieces

by Little_Firestar84



Category: Stargate - All Series, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M, Post-Finale, one shots, post -Stargate Atlantis Legacy book series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-16
Updated: 2014-09-13
Packaged: 2018-02-13 09:48:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2146185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Firestar84/pseuds/Little_Firestar84
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Collection of short one-shots, often non-related, featuring the SGA and Atlantis crew.<br/>Six: in which Dr. Eva Robinson ponders which new questions she is supposed to ask to people who's met alternative versions of themselves and the likes.<br/>Seven: in which McKay lacks people's skills-especially when it comes to asking a woman out on a date.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Acting out of character had worked out pretty well so far. He didn't see why it would stop just now, that things were getting pretty interesting...

She looked at the man sleeping deeply at her side, his features slightly illuminated by the small lamp still turned on in a remote corner of the room- _her_ room. She smiled, curled on her side, her weight on her right elbow, and with her free hand she reached out for him, suddenly unsure. 

Her hand stilled mid-air, as her mind was suddenly filled with… with dreadful thoughts, the one she was always engulfed with, but that she hid from the rest of the word, behind her carefully built mask made of a mixture of dangerous adventurousness, joy, curiosity, excitement and (apparent) libertinism. 

(She wasn’t going to tell him that after joining the SGC, she hadn’t had anything with anyone. For a man as smart as he was, he could be quite dense, especially in certain departments. As in, say, women.)

It wasn’t disbelieffor what concerned her; she knew he wasn’t her usual type, but then again, her usual type, in the past, had had all to do with having one of two nights of fun and/or surviving impeding death. He was exactly her kind of man- the one she wanted in the long run, for the rest of her life. What was stopping Vala from enjoying fully the experience of a naked Daniel Jackson in her bed- both things done on his own accord, fully aware that she, too, was naked, and at his side in the very same bed- was the fact that, well, he was Daniel, and she was… herself. And in the past, Daniel hadn’t really showed to be interested in her in that department (or in any other department, for what could matter).

He pushed her away. Literally. As in, _I’m working, go bother someone else._

He dismissed her when she asked him silly things about his own planet, like that time she hadn’t gotten the Saint Bernard and Chihuahua metaphor (nor the child awake early on Christmas morning. Or late on Christmas Eve. She honestly couldn’t remember it right now)and she had ended up asking McKay for what he had meant by those words (he hadn’t dismissed her, not at all; but there was a good chance he was far more interested in the fact that she was an alien, and had beeneven more so after she had told him she had spent some time as an host).

Eh. Maybe Daniel Jackson was her type, but she was pretty sure she wasn’t his; she had never met his late wife, but she had heard a lot about her, and now she saw the women he flirted with – and _dated_ (another point against this being real: the time she believed they were on a date, he asked her how could she actually believe it, threated her pretty badly and spent his time underlining the fact that they weren’t on a date and he wasn’t interested in dating her because the notion of them dating was, quite frankly, crazy.) and they were all like him. Smart. With many degrees. Young and beautiful and not with a scary, troubled past, and (mostly) from Earth.

So… yep. Dream. Definitely. There was no other possibility, she realized, sighing frustrated as she let herself fell on the bed on her back with an ungracious _thund_ that shook the whole structure of the irony canopy bed in the guest quarters in Atlantis, where the SG-1 was currently working on a joint operation with the expedition.Maybe it was because of the town –it had something… mystical about it. Maybe there was some telepath around messing with her head. Or maybe it was because of some Ancient device. Or an alien pollen, like in that television show she had seen a while back, or all those Doctor Who fan fiction stories she had found on the internet (she hadn’t fully understood yet why people felt compelled to write such stories, but few of them were nice, and few authors were quite good, almost as much as the people working on TV or for the cinema).

“Stop moving and stop staring at me, Vala. I’m trying to sleep here and frankly, this whole thing it’s quite freaky.”She sat up in bed as soon as she heard the male, sleepy, irritated voice at her side- Daniel’s voice and tone, definitely – and grunting (and annoyed, by the look of things) he did the same, looking at her with an annoyed expression, pointing at her with a finger. “Which part of I’m trying to sleep you are not getting?”

Her first thought was _Since when Daniel Jackson sleeps when in Atlantis?,_ and at that, Vala lifted an eyebrow, like she didn’t believe him. Her second thought was about the realization that yes, Daniel Jackson was indeed naked in her bed _with her,_ and that she was naked too. Squealing like a scared little girl who had just met some wild creature, she took the linens of the bed, and used them to cover her chest (out of character probably, but well, she was a development she hadn’t really seen coming), hiding her nudity from him. Unfortunately, the movement did nothing but uncover completely Daniel, who was… well, naked. As in, like the day he was born.

“Kind of late for modesty. I saw everything there was to see last night.” He told her with _his don’t mess with me/you know that I’m right/ I know better than you/what do you know about it anyway_ look (and yet, he too took a corner of the bed sheet to cover his lower part, Vala realized amused. 

They didn’t talk for a minute or two, with Vala looking at everything but Daniel, mostly, because she didn’t want to be tempted. And because, even if she was starting to remember what had happened between them the night before, well… it was still hard to fathom. It had been completely out of character for _her_ Daniel. Yes, he tended to get mad easily (especially with her), but… him? Getting jealous? Of her? Because of Colonel Sheppard? Had someone told her even just the day before, she would have called them crazy, and yet, it was exactly what had happened. 

“Oh, Ok, I get it, I really do. You are being your usual self, right? You… played me. you finally managed me to lose _completely_ control and now you are going to walk out of this room, satisfied with yourself and… and what? Making a good laugh at my expenses?” he asked her, quite annoyed and frankly, a little bit exasperated. But Vala didn’t answer, nor did anything. With the exception of looking in the void, like she was kind of lost. “Have you heard a word of what I just said?”

But when she turned to face him, in usual Vala fashion… her answer wasn’t what he was waiting for. “You do realize that the only reason Colonel Sheppard offered to show me around was because you’ve kept remembering him that I used to be a thief and he wanted to make sure nothing disappeared from the Atlantis perimeters, right?” she coil deb dense at times, and maybe she didn’t know a lot about Earth and itspeople, but she wasn’t an idiot.

“Uh…” Daniel simply said, realizing that there was a chance she was right. Yes, Sheppard seemed to be a flirt, but he seemed to have eyes only for his tem-mate, Teyla (who had eyes only for her husband and son), and even if McKay spent a lot of time around her, it was because he was far more interested in Vala for scientific purposes,given the fact that she was an alien and had been a Goa’uld host. So, yeah, maybe rushing at night in her room, crazy with jealousy and a sense of ownership towards the woman, just to savagely kiss her and walk her backward towards the bed may not have been his smartest move. 

And it could also be the reason she wasn’t exactly sure of what was going on, given that he had acted completely out of character. “Are you all right?” he asked her, still confused. He sighed. He just wanted to clear the air between them and get back to sleep. Or to do some other interesting activities that also involved a bed.

“Daniel, dear, I think that should be my line, given the situation.” She answered, her lips a tight line. Yes, Daniel realized, she was confused and worried. For him. Because of him. He grunted and let himself fell on the bed on his back, his right hand covering his eyes; he knew he was no lady’s man, but he thought that he wasn’t a complete idiot when it came to romance (even if the fact that he had asked Vala out withoutrealizing he was actually asking her out seemed to suggest the contrary), and yet, here he was, naked in bed with a beautiful naked woman, one he had been enamored with for a while but never done anything about his attraction because he feared she wasn’t serious- and he just didn’t know how to not do serious when it cameto his relationships with women.

God, he was a genius. And yet… a real idiot. 

Suddenly, he felt himself purr like a big cat, and he opened his eyes as he felt Vala playing with his hair, massaging his scalp. “Are you all right?” he asked, looking at her, relaxed and concentrated on the task. He knew he had already asked her once, and that she had dismissed it because she felt she should have been the one worried about his mental health, but he just needed to know. And the fact that she was so relaxed and concentrated…he couldn’t say yet if it was a good sign or not, but as sure as hell it felt encouraging. 

“I’m just…. Overwhelmed, I guess.” She said, stopping her motion and falling on the bed too, just at his side, turned toward him. 

“So… slow?” Daniel asked, a bit disappointed. Frankly, they had already slept together. He wouldn’t’ have minded if, in the light of the day, they had continued to do so. Just adding having an adult and proper relationship to the sex mix. 

“Well, I wouldn’t mind doing the things you people from Earth do…like having dinner, dancing, shopping…” She said each words tapping right on his heart, getting closer and closer with each word, until she was pressed against him, only the bed sheet between them, doing nothing to conceal the heat radiating from their bodies.

“Or maybe not.” He said, throwing the sheet on the floor, and covering her body with his own, and devouring a squealing Vala with kisses and love-bites. After al, acting out of character had worked out so far: he didn’t have any reason to believe it was going to stop now.


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vala has some issues after Queen Death has been defeated (as seen in Stargate Atlantis: Legacy vol. 6)...

While the rest of the team was getting ready to leave Atlantis and get back to HQ after the battle with the Wraith, Vala sat on Daniel’s desk, her feet dancingin the air. 

“Do you think I lost my touch, Darling?” she asked casually, looking at a very nice painting on the wall, as Daniel wasn’t showing any interest in her presence- acting as she wasn’t there at all (which could have been true, as he was so engrossed in All things Ancient). He simply lifted his nose from the old book, and looked at her like she was crazy, waiting for her to move on with the conversation, so that he, too, could know what she was talking about.“McKay. I found him… well, Colonel Sheppard where McKay had left him, I was “working”, let’s say, under the illusion that McKay was on Queen Death’s side, right?”

Daniel didn’t give any sign of understanding what she was saying, so he simply waved his hand around, hoping that she would get the hint. That she actually did. “Well… then either I’m not as good as I thought, or your philosophy doesn’t work.

“Ok?” Daniel asked. He was a genius. But he really didn’t understand her. he doubted that even Carter or- God forbid him for thinking so- McKay could understand Vala on their best days. And they were smarter than him- even that pompous jerk of McKay.

“Well… then I’m either not good at this job, or too good.” she simply said. And before Daniel could ask her to clarify her statement, she was gone- running after shiny things, like a cub after a little wild animal. 


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which McKay visits his sister Jeannie, and she does her best to get involved with his love-life...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter, as many others, are set post the book series Stargate Atlantis:Legacy, where, let's be honest, Mckay is the absolute super-star...

“Meredith, could you come with me in the kitchen, please? I need your help…” Jeanniesaid as she left the table, her older brother’s expression –and grunting sounds -a clear indication that no, he didn’t want to leave stop eating; his Jeannie was a good scientist, but the years as wife and mother had definitely helped her improving in the cooking department.Or maybe it was just him: after all, as much as he liked MREs and all that jazz, they were, well, military rations as both Sheppard and Ronon often pointed out. Home-cooking was another whole thing- especially his sister’s, apparently.

 _Can’t you ask your husband?_ He thought, shuddering afterwards. After months passed as a Wraith, communicating telepathically, and even after his return, when the “gift” had remained and he had learned to communicate both with Teila and Ember, sometimes – just sometimes- he forgot that he had to actually use his voice to talk with others. This one had been one of those times- even if, thinking about it, he had been grateful for having forgotten to remember: he had a feel that the people around the table wouldn’t have liked such a statement, and would have started lecturing him. 

It was bad enough that his “girlfriend” was kicking him under the table (not even lightly- and yep, he tolerated it. Because that’s how much he loved her) to force him to do as Jeannie was telling him to- and all because she was a younger sister, too, and for that reason alone she liked Jeannie.

Trying to show how much he was disappointed to leave the table- and yet look helpful and a good brother at the same time – Rodney followed her, and when he found his younger sister all--- giggling in a corner, he shook his head, crossing his arms as exasperated.

“So, what?” He wasn’t what Eva referred to as “people’s person”, despite the improvements made since joining the Atlantis expedition, and yet, even if sometimes he was still oblivious (especially when women when concerned), he had knew Jeannie all his life.And Jeannie dear was up to something. “What have you done?”

His sister felt like rolling her eyes, but, knowing what she was about to do, resisted temptation; even if it was just so damn hard! She couldn’t count the times that she had said the same sentence to her brother, only, where he was scared, she had often (scratch that, always) mad and/or worried. 

“Nothing!” she said, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. Without adding another word, she opened one of the cabinets of her kitchen, and took a little black box, moving it on the table, right before her brother; when Meredith did nothing to indicate he wanted to open it, she practically threw the small item in his hands, and only then he opened it- discovering that on the inside there was an engagement ring passed in his family from generation to generation; McKay, panicking, looked around, somehow worried that his “girlfriend” could have seen the item in his hands and decided that they had get married there and then, and when he decided that no, she hadn’t seen the ring as she was too occupied to listen to his brother-in-law talking about _The old mariner’s ballad,_ he closed the box and hid it in the closest cabinet. 

“Jeannie, what were you thinking about? How did you….” He made a face like to say, _are you an idiot or what,_ then he closed his eyes and took a big breath. And counted. And then again and again. When he opened his eyes again, not only he was calmer, but he was less prone to define his younger sister a complete idiot. “I haven’t even dated her for… what? Six months? And you expect me to get married?”

Jeannie looked at him, a bit sorry, like she could actually understand where he came from; but the truth was, she didn’t; it was the first time Meredith was bringing a girl home-despite not being green any longer-and it was actually just the third time his sister was introduced to someone he was in a relationship with, and the two previous times, with Katie and Jennifer, they didn’t even matter, because Jeannie had met them only because she had run into them once in Atlantis, for totally unrelated matters, so she wasn’t really sure they counted as “girlfriends introduced to the family as marriage material”. __

“I just think that…” Jeannie paused one second, looking for the right words; but then again, she was the younger sister. Being a little mean with her brother was part of her job. “Let’s face it, Mer. You’re not getting any younger, and if she dumps you, too, how many chances do you have to meet for the _fourth time_ a young, nice, good-looking and intelligent woman who dares to keep up with you?” Jeannie got closer and closer, and then patted him on the chest. “C’mon Mer, I know you love Madison. Don’t you want to be a daddy? Having a little one running for Atlantis’ corridors?”

Yes, he wanted that, and it was exactly his problem. During his first year on the Atlantis expedition, he had learned to value family, but getting back in contact with his _real_ family, being around Jeannie and Madison and Kaleb, that (and yes- even helping Teila giving birth, too) had made him understand that, deep, deep down it could be something he could wanted to have for himself, too. But he had always been… greedy, for a lack of a better word. Yes, he wanted a family for himself, the wife and kid(s), but he wasn’t ready to leave Atlantis yet- and maybe, now that his DNA was mixed with Wraith’s, he would have never been. That had been what had led to his ultimate break-up with Jennifer: she was ok with running in Atlantis for a while- even with living with the Wraiths to test her last retro-virus- but she didn’t want for that to be her life; just like him, she wanted a family, an husband and a kid, but she wanted that on Earth. And it was something he couldn’t give her, as much as he loved her; accepting to abandon Atlantis would have meant betray himself, and that would have led to resentment. And if there was something that broke his heart more than having lost Jennifer, was thinking of himself, old, hating her. 

And… yes… Johnson was… well, yes, he loved her, but it hadn’t been one year since Jennifer left. He didn’t want to rush things, getting himself in something he wasn’t ready for, or force on her the role of the replacement. He didn’t think she was second best for him- but he wasn’t even sure he wanted to marry her –not now, at least-even if he wasn’t getting any younger. But maybe, in a year’s time, or even in just few months…. Who knew?

“Can I keep it?” he asked as he put the ring in his pockets anyway, without waiting for Jeannie to answer, nor being bothered by her smug smile. “Just, you know, in case…”

Jeannie shook her head, smiling. Sometimes her brother was really oblivious- even to his own feelings. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there may or may not be a sequel to this one...


	4. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Daniel Jackson seems to be rather oblivious to life in general...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on few lines from the Legacy Novels: Daniel Jackson in Atlantis Legacy: Unascended, about Sam and Jack (“And I wouldn’t say that Jack is her consort”) and a conversation between McKay and Sheppard in Atlantis Legacy: Secrets about Sam's refusal to date McKay, even only on friends basys (“she is really, really involved with somebody”).

Daniel looked at the piece of paper in his hands, sitting on the chair where he had ungraciously fallen previously for the shock, and then at Jack. And then at the piece of paper again. And jack again, again and again and again, for what they both felt like it was a small eternity. 

“So?” Jack asked, trying to understand what Daniel’s problem was.

“You are… getting married.” Daniel said, reading the names on the paper, like they would change or he had been mistaken when he had first read them. 

“Yes. It’s something that people sometimes does. You know, when a man and a woman love each other very much…” Jack smirked and stopped talking when Daniel glared at him, like to remember him that he knew what marriage was, as he, himself, had been previously married; but it wasn’t like jack could have helped it- Daniel, like many other scientists too smart for their own good (like McKay) sometimes could be oblivious to the simplest things in life. Like the time he, a single man, had asked Vala, a single woman, to join him to dinner in a fancy restaurant that required being dressed to the nines- just to be scandalized when she had candidly asked him how it could not be a date. 

“You are not in love with her, right?” Jack asked. He was pretty sure that Daniel didn’t have any unrequired love for his best friend’s fiancée, but he just wanted to make sure. With Ancients, ascended beings, Asgard and Wraiths playing God with memories and emotions of the SGC, one could never know for sure- after all, it hadn’t been that long that Daniel had awoken naked and with no memory of his past when he had unascended. As far as jack O’Neill knew, his best friend had been in love with the Colonel all his life and had just remembered it…

“What? No!”

“So… the problem is… that you are in love with me? Because… it would be all right… not in that way, but, you know… You are my friend, and you’d still be. I would never judge you.”

“Oh, trust me, dear, he very much likes women….” Vala said flirting from her spot on Daniel’s desk, running a dark-polished nail on his shirt. 

“Well, maybe he likes both… women and men.” Jack said, waving his hands around. This conversation was getting out of hand. And becoming uncomfortable, too- for both him and Daniel, who was running an hand through his short hair. 

“I don’t love you Jack, all right? Nor your girlfriend. That’s not my problem. At all.” he took the piece of paper and held it, tightening his fist around the material. “My problem is… when did it happen? I mean… where was I when…”

“Here.” Jack candidly admitted, finally understanding where Daniel was from- a city called Oblivion, apparently. 

“And when….”

“Well, it’s been over three years, but, since I wasn’t retired yet, we didn’t exactly advertised it. But, now that I’m retired and with my lovely fiancée stationed full-time on Earth…”

Daniel turned toward Vala. “Did you know?”

“Daniel, sweetheart…” Vala told him, patting his shoulder like he was a child who was getting a lesson from a teacher. “We all knew. Honestly, you’ve been the only one who hadn’t understood that General O’Neill and Samantha were in a relationship…”


	5. 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Daniel asks vala out, but they aren't on the same page...

Vala opened the door of her room at Cheyenne Mountain, and looked right before her, speechless and confused. The same expression that Daniel was showing as well- although, as usual, Vala would have said he was a bit… annoyed as well- nothing new when he had to deal with her, she didn’t even mind it any longer now. 

But, right now, yeah. It confused her the fact that he was annoyed, because he didn’t really have any reason to. She was on time and she dressed appropriately, no leather or femme fatale or sexy outfit of sort, so, what was wrong with Dr. Jackson?

“You know, I’m aware that women take long time to get ready- even _alien_ women.” He underlined, pointing an accusing finger at her. “But you are fifteen minutes late, and you are still dressed in your sweats?” he closed his eyes and took a long, relaxing breath, trying to calm down and “meditate” as he had been taught in the past; getting mad with Vala now was of no use, and in the long run would have been definitely counterproductive. Especially since he had ideas for the evening. And a plan. Sort of. 

“But… I am ready.” She said, indicating her clothes, simple black sweats and a white t-shirt, completed with running shoes, her long dark hair braided in ponytails like she was a child. Her eyes, thought, went to Daniel’s chest, and his complete attire- his _elegant, suit completed with white shirt and black tie_ attire. 

“I’m sorry, Daniel, but I’m confused. Aren’t you a little overdressed for…” she concentrated, trying to remember the exact words he had used. On one side, it was easy, because, as much as she hated to admit it, she remembered everything he used to say for the simple fact that he was the one saying it, but on the other side, as much as she liked Daniel, sometimes she still kept getting distracted. Especially if shiny, new or extremely technological advanced devices were around her, ready to challenge her to steal them (old habits die hard, as the Tau’ri used to say.). “…For grabbing something to eat with me?”

“I asked you if you wanted to eat out with me, Vala.” He said, eyes closed and taking big breaths to calm himself down. For some unknown mystery, things with Vala could never go as he planned them to- especially when they concerned eating out. “It’s a matter of finesse.”

“Finesse?” she asked as she didn’t know the word. She knew it, of course, she had lived on Earth long enough to learn pretty much there was to know on a basic level, but… she just didn’t understand him. Like often. Ok, like almost always. 

“Vala, I asked you out.” He said the words like he was talking with a baby who wouldn’t learn her lesson, or a dumb blonde. All things that Vaal wasn’t- so it was pretty frustrating. Was he really that out of shape, really that bad at this? 

God. He hated that Jack was right, women really weren’t his thing. But what he hated even more was the prospective of telling this much to his best friend. 

“I know you did, Daniel.” She looked at him like he was either stupid or crazy or a mixture of both qualities. 

“Vala…” he sighed, closing his eyes, getting frustrated and desperate. “I. Asked. You. Out.” He underlined the words, pointing each one out, and looked at her pleading. That, apparently, got the desired effect. 

“Oh, you mean….” Daniel nodded. “As in a date?” she asked, surprised, disbelief clear in her voice.

“Yeah.” Daniel said, running an hand through his short light brown hair, sighing. Nothing could go as he wanted it to; but this time he had only himself to blame, he guessed; not believing that Vala was really interested in him, and that she would stay with them once everything with the Ori was done and dealt with, he had never given her, and the possibility of something happening between the two of them, a second though. But now that he had realized that there was a chance she had been honest all along, that she had been scared and hurt, emotionally, just like he had been, now that he knew that she wanted to stay… well, why not taking a leap of faith? But, apparently, he had been either wrong or late for that.

She leaned against the doorframe, hugging herself, as Daniel did the same, his broad shoulder against the rough, cold wall, the both of them in an semi-embarrassed silence, their eyes on the ground; they didn’t know how long they stayed like that, until, after an amount of time that it seemed infinite, Vala cleared her voice. 

“So… do I still have time to….” She clenched her eyes like to better concentrate, remembering the expression she had heard someone at base use once or twice. “…to dress to the… nine?”

“Nines.” Daniel correct her out of habit, clearing his voice afterward, blushing a little. “You… you don’t have to. If you don’t want to, I mean.” He was gesticulating with his hands, a clear indication of how upset and nervous he was. 

“No!” she practically screamed, almost jumping on the spot. She, too, cleared her voice, composing herself, aware that Daniel wasn’t too fond of her most exuberant moments. “No, I mean… I’d really like to.”

“All right.” Daniel answered, simply. “So… we’re having dinner at Il Fiore Bianco. You already know the dress code, so…”

She simply smiled and got back in her room, leaving him outside to wait for her. Wait for her to join him at Il Fiore Bianco, and forget that the first time they had been there he had insisted that there was no way that he would have ever dated her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: as I was writing this, I had to edit the name of the resturant at the last time, as I noticed that Ia hsd called it "Il tavolo Bianco" - where, in The Mentalist, Jane and Lisbon go on a sort of date-instead of "Il fiore Bianco"...


	6. 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Dr. Eva Robinson ponders which new questions she is supposed to ask to people who's met alternative versions of themselves and the likes...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Eva Robinson is the shrink of the Alantis expeidtion as Legacy volume 1; Chis Johnson is the OFC briefly mentioned in the future-set Chapter 3 ("In which McKay visits his sister Jeannie, and she does her best to get involved with his love-life"), but no knowledge is needed- for the sake of the story, any character, minor, main or OC, can do it...

They had tried to relocate Atlantis, but something had gone terribly wrong, and when they had left hyperspace, it was just to discover that it had worked all too well; yes, they had been able to escape the hive-ship of the Wraith Queen that despised the alliance of her people with the Lanthians, but they had somehow ended up into another universe. 

As in a _parallel universe._

A parallel Universe where there was another Atlantis. Right next to theirs. None of them was fake, and yet, both the crews felt the same way: they were the originals, the others were just imitations, and the fact that they “had” to work together so that they could find their way home, well… things weren’t going as smoothly as one could believe.And of that much, Dr. Eva Robinson was sure. 

She had already wrote down a list of questions that school and work on Earth hadn’t prepared her for, once joined the Atlantis expedition back in San Francisco- especially in the months to follow, once the Ancient City got back in its rightful place- but this was the first time that she was going to have to deal with parallel universes and counterparts of “her” people. People who, despite not being the first time it was happening, were having a rough time dealing with meeting themselves-only in a slightly different skin. 

So, yes. _How are you dealing with meeting a different version of you? Does this give you a different insight on the choices you’ve taken so far? Does it open your eyes on any regrets you didn’t even know you were carrying around?_ Were all new questions that she would have soon added to _Do you think there’sa reason you proposed to your girlfriend so soon after being back from such a traumatizing experience_ and _Why were you tempted to use a weapon that would have kill your friends- and the infant son of one of them?_

But… there was one person she knew that would have never spoke about her problems with counterparts from different realities and all that jazz- Christine Johnson, who had joined the expedition six months before, her mission helping to find a way to give the ATA gene to as many people as possible- and not only the ones who had it recessively. 

And the reason Eva was sure that Christine would have never said a word about such a thing was because Christine _came_ from another world, one she had left when SG-1…

Well, now it didn’t matter. All that matter was that having Christine as her next “patient” was going to be a breath of fresh air. She didn’t’ even need therapy, she simply paced the room, waving her arms around, sighing often, ranting about this or that- mostly about how she and McKay couldn’t work together, how he wanted to take the merits but put the blame on others, and so on. 

So, really, it was kind of simple (even if it gave her an headache every time she had to listen to Johnson; really, the woman was a genius, but she was rather… oblivious. Because, for all her talking, hadn’t she realized that she tended to talk _only_ about Dr. McKay?) .

“Good morning Dr. Johnson. How can I help you today?” __

Johnson sat in the seat opposite to Eva, biting her lips and struggling for words. It wasn’t a scene Eva was used to- from her previous sessions with the brunette and what she had heard from the rest of the Crew, as well as random meetings with the woman outside office hours, she had guessed she had troubles keeping her mouth shut.

“I want an excuse to avoid working with them.” Johnson said, scratching with atoenail the skin of her left ring-finger, her eyes on the ring-less hand. Eva studied the action, and wondered what meaning giving to it- and if Johnson was going to explain herself, or if it hadn’t been just… causal. An unwanted gesture of some sort. Had she been married before leaving her own world? Or was the other Johnson- because Eva had heard that there was another woman with the same name, the same appearance and a similar story- married, and this was giving their Johnson troubles? 

She really loved her job, and loved Atlantis. But she was sure that eventually the headaches would have been more powerful than the fun and she would have started regretting her choices- as in, using her powerful ATA gene as an excuse to stay along for the ride. 

“… and yet I know I can’t have it. I shouldn’t even ask. It’s not fair. I mean, it’s not like I’m the only one going through… this thing.” Johnson started her usual routine, talking nonstop, psychoanalyzing herself like she hadn’t done nothing else than seeing shrinks her whole life.“But… it’s kind of… scary. And trust me. I don’t get scared easily.”

_So, this time it’s not about McKay… that’s new. But I would have preferred if it was about him. Why can’t I have a simple case on this base?_

“Is she so different from you? Is that what scares you, seeing the different choices you could have made?” Eva asked, toying with her pen like she wasn’t paying attention; but they both knew it wasn’t the case. 

“Well, for starter she is married- not that I care about this too much. I mean, been there, done that, got the t-shirt when it ended in disaster.” Johnson took a big breath, sighed and looked at the ceiling like she was a stubborn kid- something that sometimes she could seem, Eva realized- and then stared right at Eva. “She is pregnant. And… happy about it.”

“You don’t think she should?”

Johnson looked at her hands, like she was ashamed of what she was about to say. “I’m not sure that I would have been happy, in her situation. Or… if it would have been me. In any kind of situation, for what it matters.” 

“You never considered motherhood?” Eva asked. _It had ended in disaster,_ Johnson had said. Was it because she didn’t want children? And yet, she had seen the woman with Torren and other kids who occasionally visited the city of the Ancients. She liked children. She was good with them. 

“I’m a scientist. And let me tell you- a damn good one. I know what I can do. I know what I can’t do. And I always thought that there’s no way in hell that I could be able to handle a child of my own. I mean… who should I look up for guidance? Or as an example? I don’t even remember my parents- and my step-brother, when he took me in he may have been legal, but he was just a child himself. A rich, stubborn and too smart for his own good kid. And besides, let’s not start about the way I can’t emotionally handle myself around normal people, because, hello? When the guys my age were in high school, I could already been calledDoctor, and let me tell you, that, when you are just a bit more than a teenager, is frustrating.”

“So, it’s not about the fact that you don’t want to have a child- but that you think you want it.”

“I’m not sure I’ve wanted it until I saw her… me pregnant, being all… luminescent and glowing or… you know. Because, you said it yourself. She has almost the same story as me. And yet she is having a child and being happy about it. Why shouldn’t I be able to do so? Kept aside the fact that I don’t have a man to have a child with.”

 _Are you sure?_ Eva wandered, barely resisting smirking.

“And now that you have this knowledge, what will you do about it?”

“Well, nothing, obviously, but…. I guess that it helped talking about it?” Eva didn’t think it sounded as statement, but a question; but she knew that Johnson too knew that, and her expression was a statement to that; she was conflicted, and Eva could understand that. That was why she was there, as difficult as it was.


	7. 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which McKay lacks people's skills-especially when it comes to asking a woman out on a date.

“So… food anyone?”

Johnson lifted her eyes from the screen and watched at the man before her with arched eyebrows; McKay was tapping with a pen against the edge of his desk, looking at her like he had asked her the most normal thing in the universe- of if he had uttered a whole sentence. Which he hadn’t. “Since when you think about food or taking pauses in the middle of a project?” She asked, studying him carefully. 

“He always thinks about food.” Zelenka deadpanned, looking at the screens and checking the equipment, much to McKay’s impatience and annoyance at the rude statement; but Johnson had to admit that it was true, if there was food around, and if it was something that he particularly enjoyed, like those awful MRIs, McKay would be found next to it, no matter what.

“The computers are working on an automatic comparison that will keep hours, and not only I’m sleep deprived, but I’m also quickly approaching hypoglycemia- ergo, I _need_ food. And, I think you do, too.” He tapped with his pen again, only this time it was on _her_ desk, and on the empty wrapping of what had been a protein bar. “a cereals bar at lunch is no meal…”he tsk-tsked like she was a little child or a brat. Of course, it was pretty much how he saw everyone else besides him, but it wasn’t the point.

“First, you are creepy when you do that. Second, since when you care about my diet?”

“But because I need you brain in perfect shape!” he almost sing-songed, at which Johnson turned towards Zelenka. 

“Is he sharing again his body with Cadman and nobody told me?” She was half-joking. Only a bit. Because frankly, she was starting to get traumatized by this “trying to be nice” version of McKay. 

He made again that sideway expression, rolling his eyes. “Do you or don’t you want to get something from the cafeteria?” he asked, definitely less nicely. There was annoyance and arrogance in his voice, and the younger scientist smiled, breathing in relief. That, she knew. That, she could handle. Even if, personally, she would have appreciated if Dr. McKay would learn to walk on middle ground. But maybe he was just frustrated and needed to… “I don’t like what you just thought. It was denigrating and offensive. And let’s not forget that I’m your boss. Ever heard of the word respect where you come from?”

She may have told him many things in that moment. She could have remembered him that Sheppard was actually her boss, as the new head of the expedition, or that McKay had been quite rude reading her mind like that. But, for once, she cut him so slack- and decided that it was better to rant about it with Eva then trying to win a conversation with Rodney McKay- he would have probably kept coming back on topic for days, until she wouldn’t admit that he was right and she was wrong, and she didn’t have the patience, never had even before losing her home to a brand new universe; besides, now she was sleep-deprived and hungry, and didn’t feel like arguing. With anyone, but especially not with someone like him who always wanted the last damn word in any conversation, no matter the subject.

Besides, they both knew she was partly right, and that was enough for her.

“Sorry if I’ve been so rude to keep my thoughts to myself.” She simply said, trying to fin her middle-ground and hoping it would be enough. “I’ve heard there was omelet today. Maybe there’s some left.” She simply said, biting her lips; McKay, at the prospect of food, beamed, and showed her the way like he was a gentleman, and looked in front of himself, like the posture of a peacock. 

“Where do you think you are going?” He asked when, with the corner of his eyes, he noticed Zelenka following them eagerly, with a small smile gracing his lips, as he was already foretasting his next meal. 

“But to eat. You said it yourself that it will be hours before….”

“Yes, yes, yes, I know what I said, but I wasn’t talking with you, in case you didn’t get it.”

“But I thought you said…” Zelenka closed his eyes and took a big breath, frustrated, and shook his head, as he finally understood what Rodney was trying to tell him. “They are right, the smarter they are, the more they lack people’s skills….” Zelenka paused, pinching the bridge of his nose sighing out loud. “Honestly Rodney, don’t you know how to ask a woman out at your age?”

“I’m not old! I’m only 41!To be considered old in today’s society I should be at least twenty years older, if not more!” He answered like the only thing he had heard was the indirect remark about his age.

“Yes Rodney, and forty is the new thirty as you always say. But I still think that Johnson didn’t understand that you wanted to have dinner with her as in a date. Why do you think that I was going to join you?” _Other the fact thatthey do a killer omelette._

McKay waved his hand in the air, dismissing the fellow scientist completely, as what had just left his mouth were just a whole nonsense. “Please. Intellectually speaking, that woman is way out of your league, Radek. She is practically almost as smart as me. We speak the same language. Of course she knows that I just asked her out… I’m surethat if I were to ask anyone how they would have interpreted my sentence, they would all know what I meant.”

Zelenka shook his head and spoke few words in his mother-tongue, emphatically waving around his hands as he gave McKay his shoulders. 

_Of course she knows,_ McKay wondered as he joined Johnson as they walked towards the cafeteria. _She does, doesn’t she?_


	8. 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there's a choice to make...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by a similar conversation present in one of the books of the Stargate Atlantis: Legacy series.

Johnson was leaning against the balustrade of the balcony on the cliff, her eyes lost in the distance, on the vast Ocean; many times in Atlantis she had done the same thing, but it was different; it had always felt different: because of the atmosphere, because of the quantity of salt in the water, because of the different climate…. But she guessed that, had she been on a cliff on the Earth that she had come to call home, she would have felt an alien there too. That wasn’t the world she was born and raised in. 

This, on the other hand, was what she had called home for almost her whole life, and that building was the one she had shared for far too long with her step-brother. But, she wondered, what was home? What made a place home instead of another one? Yes, people knew her there, they somehow appreciated it, and she wasn’t going to lie: in the first few months, she had wanted to go back with her whole being, but now, she wasn’t so sure any longer. There were a lot of things that held the power to keep her in Atlantis; she knew she was going to have to choose, and her heart clenched painfully at the realization- the knowledge- that someone would have gotten hurt whatever she was going to choose.

She heard the soft echo of footsteps at her back, and she shivered, with body and mind, as she felt a soft touch, a gentle caress, given not by body but a mind; she closed her eyes and smiled a little, suddenly relaxed and at peace, and gasped at the burning sensation when Rodney enveloped her in a hug from behind, his arms encircling her waist. 

“You’re thinking so loudly you are hurting my mind.” He murmured, before nuzzling her hair and sighing. Fresh tears burned her eyes, as she read it as a sigh of realization on his side, the fear of losing someone he loved once again, of not being enough, suddenly real.

“Want to be alone?” he asked. He didn’t ned to use his voice with her- maybe she didn’t possess the gift like he and Teyla did, but they shared a bound, and besides, in the year passing his return from the Wraith’s side, he had learned a couple of tricks, too, and he was now able to fully communicate with his mind with everyone.

She didn’t answer, she simply leaned against him, her head on his shoulder, and they both stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, enveloped in a cocoon of peace and silence, only the waves and seagulls keeping them company in the early morning, as the sun was setting on the horizon.

“What I mean to say is that… I’ll understand it. But, I think you should know that….” He didn’t end the sentence, just closed his eyes shut and tightened his hold on her. He wasn’t reading her mind, but he knew what her dilemma was, and she didn’t need for him to end his sentence to know what was in his heart, because for how complicated he was on the job, Rodney was a very simple man when it came to his feelings.

 _I’ll understand if you’ll decide to stay here, but I want you to know that I’ll not wait for you, that I’ll not follow you; not because I don’t love you- but because I think I love Atlantis and my life there just too much_ _to risk eventually resenting you._

“I…” she started, but the voice died in her throat. _I don’t know what I’ll do._ She finished with her mind, hoping that he had heard it loud and clear as she had spoken at loud. 

Rodney didn’t answer; he simply let it go of her, and patted her shoulders before turning, quickly walking back into the house, his white hair shining like silver when touched by the early morning rays; again he felt the burning sensation of rage and all those negative emotions he had fought against his whole life, and he tightened his fists at his side when the memory of Jennifer refusing his proposal, of her telling him that she didn’t know if she loved him as he did love her, crashed him, hurting his whole being almost as it had been a physical sensation.

He wasn’t enough. Apparently, he had never been enough. What had he once told Sheppard? That nobody picked him for their team when he was a kid.And now, at almost 42, he was living the same experience- again and again and again. 

“Will you marry me?” He stopped where he stood, one hand already on the doorframe, and turned slowly, reaching his eyebrowsas he saw Johnson standing there, picking at the nail of her index with her thumb, biting her lips; even if he hadn’t felt her fear and insecurity through his mind, he would have seen the mixed emotions reflected on her features. 

Part of him wanted to make a snappy retort, like, _Shouldn’t I be the one to propose?_ But then he kept his trap shout, fearing that then, to try to add some humor to the conversation, he could have added something like, _You can’t steal the pants in our relationship! Not that I think you shouldn’t wear pants. Or that I want to boss you around,_ And that wouldn’t have been fun. Not at all. nor good. 

“It’s just that… I really do love you, and I can’t follow you to Atlantis if I fear that one day you’ll change your mind and decide that I’m not good enough any longer. I may be greedy but, I want that life now, Rodney.I want to be your wife and have one or two kids growing up in the City of the Ancients. And if you don’t want it I need to know now, because maybe I haven’t been exactly happy here in the past, but maybe I could learn to…”

She never finished her sentence, because he shout her up with his lips upon hers, and that, for her, was answer enough; for the ring, she would have to wait for a little while- after all, his ring for her was still in his room in Atlantis.


End file.
